Events and Activities











ASWA Trade Dinner hosted by Anne Vercelli Feb 1, 2020.

Events – Archive
The Shenandoah Valley Wine Trail hosted their first Shenandoah Cup Gala to announce the medalists in the trail’s wine competition. The Gala took place at CrossKeys Vineyards, Mt. Crawford, VA 22841 on Friday, November 15, 2020. The medalists were announced along with the top six wines that make up the ShenCup half case and the top-rated wine that will win the Shenandoah Cup trophy. All medal winning wines were available for tasting and owners/winemakers will be available to discuss their wines. Judging was provided by the prestigious Atlantic Seaboard Wine Association.
The Atlantic Seaboard Wine Association in cooperation with the Congressional Wine Caucus presented the gold medal winning wines of the fifteenth annual Atlantic Seaboard Wine Competition Thursday, December 12, 2019 at the Rayburn Office Building on Capitol Hill.
Senate and House members of the U.S. Congressional Wine Caucus, other invited Congressional members, Chiefs of Staff, Legislative Assistants concerned with wine industry issues, wine industry representatives and other special guests attended the annual Capitol Hill awards presentation.
The Atlantic Seaboard Wine Association (ASWA) was proud to participate in the third annual BevX Wine and Beverage Expo on February 21-22, 2018. With attendees from all over the country gathering in our nation’s capital, the cooperative atmosphere of the conference captured the excitement of this dynamic industry in which so many of us work. Winemakers and grape growers, marketers and distributors, writers and winery vendors, and wine associations such as the ASWA — all could be found in one spot this past week.
BevX provided a tremendous opportunity for the Atlantic Seaboard Wine Association to showcase wines on opening day because quite often these wines are not widely tasted outside their state of origin. We provided 60 distinctive award-winning wines from New York, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New Jersey, Virginia, Pennsylvania, Vermont and many other states for executive directors, writers and attendees from as far afield as California, New Mexico and Colorado.
The Atlantic Seaboard Wine Association (ASWA) participated in the Eastern Winery Exposition’s (EWE) Welcome Wine Reception on March 6, 2018, where ASWA members poured award-winning wines from their signature Competition focusing on the wines from the 17 states of the Atlantic Seaboard. EWE attendees were able to taste wines from Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Connecticut, Vermont and many other states. Whereas many winery associations represent an individual state, the ASWA’s focus is to promote and help build the wine industry on the East Coast as a whole. Wineries on the East Coast face different challenges and opportunities climatically and otherwise than their Western counterparts like California, Washington or Oregon. The ASWA thanks Richard Leahy and all the organizers of EWE for allowing us to be part of such a fine event.

The Atlantic Seaboard Wine Association (ASWA) on Tuesday, Aug. 15, 2017 brought together for a unique event held at the Rugters University Agricultural Extension Building in Bridgeton, NJ featuring some of the best wines from their annual Competition for a special presentation, tasting and discussion of what makes the East Coast a dynamic area for grape growing and winemaking.
This event provided an opportunity for local grape growers and winemakers, retail and restaurant professionals, wine and food writers and bloggers, local elected officials and other industry affiliates to experience the wines and understand why they taste the way they do in a manner not often brought to this region of the state. This comparative tasting also included a handful of vendors including a local restaurant which sponsored the food of the evening, Villa Barone, an Ecuadorian chocolate producer providing wine-friendly chocolates – 1892 Chocolate – and a winery consultant and educator, Stacy Brody, whose company she founded is called “Study & Swirl”. This event was jointly organized by Paul Tonacci – ASWA Board Member, Dan Ward – Extension Agent of Rutgers University, Grant Crandall – President of ASWA, and Tom Cosentino – Executive Director of the Garden State Wine Growers Association (GSWGA).